-LRB- EW.com -RRB- -- When Jacob -LRB- Anton Yelchin -RRB- meets Anna -LRB- Felicity Jones -RRB- in the exquisite , happy/sad young-love story `` Like Crazy , '' it 's only after Anna makes the first move . She 's a spunky British visiting student at a Los Angeles university and an aspiring writer ; he 's a quiet American classmate and an aspiring furniture designer .

Anna 's instincts are good : The two quickly fall rapturously , totally head-over-heels in love . And the magic of this glowing little award-winner by director/co-writer Drake Doremus -LRB- `` Douchebag '' -RRB- is that we believe every skip and flutter of their beating hearts , even as those beats are challenged by forces beyond their control : When Anna returns to her family in London after graduation , visa problems keep her there .

Doremus has said he developed `` Like Crazy '' based on his own experience with a long-term , long-distance relationship ; he 's attentive to the million little frustrations that can nibble away at even the most passionate commitment , moments pinpointed by the production 's handheld camera work .

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Equal storytelling credit goes to fast-rising stars Yelchin -LRB- `` Star Trek '' -RRB- and Jones -LRB- `` Brideshead Revisited '' -RRB- , who immersed themselves in deep improvisatory work with their director to arrive at such a palpably real , universally identifiable manifestation of young love in all its ecstasy and agony . -LRB- The movie had no set script . -RRB-

There 's no accounting for chemistry , of course , not only in the success of love affairs and movie-star pairings but also in the way audiences respond to onscreen romance . One viewer 's delight in '' -LRB- 500 -RRB- Days of Summer '' is another one 's antsiness with its structural tricks . -LRB- That 's me . -RRB-

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With no such narrative artifice , no Love Story-ish terminal illness or other tragedy to stimulate audience tear ducts , and none of the mood miseries or big-name lures of `` Blue Valentine , '' `` Like Crazy '' tells the truth , simply : Love is thrilling . And -- just because of the way life happens -- sometimes love hurts . A -

See full article at EW.com .

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`` Like Crazy '' is an exquisite , happy/sad young-love story

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With no Love Story-ish terminal illness to stimulate audience tear ducts , `` Like Crazy '' tells the truth

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Storytelling credit goes to fast-rising stars Yelchin and Jones as the movie had no set script